Pressure to Power: Converting Footsteps Into Electricity

Overview

The purpose of this project is to create a cost-effective and renewable way to make electricity using kinetic energy. Public spaces waste opportunities to harness electrical energy, and this project addresses that challenge by turning kinetic energy into electricity. To do this, build a pressure plate using piezoelectric materials. This project is important because harmful ways of producing electricity damage the environment and future. This project was aimed towards producing power by using piezoelectric discs(materials that change mechanical force into electricity). The piezoelectric pressure plate created could provide information on how to use the piezoelectricity to supply humans with electricity, which most people use frequently. The design process began with experimenting on the breadboard using wires, LEDs, and piezo discs. At this stage, proper wiring and discovered that parallel circuits produced better results than series. Challenges such as low power, thick copper wires, and complex wiring were solved by buying larger discs, using soldering wicks, adjusting the design, and gathering extra materials. In the final wiring, twenty-four positive wires from the disks connected to two solder wicks and twenty-four negative wires to two other solder wicks. The outcome was an average of 10.38 volts, proving the project successful. The model produced enough mechanical energy to power LEDs. A clear acrylic plate replaced the steel stepping plate, letting people see the wiring and understand how the LEDs were powered, making the system believable and effective.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Alternative Energy (Junior Division) · Entry J-01-09

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